Improvement Plan for Road Wins Praise : Interchange: Two proposals are under study by Ventura, ranging in cost from $13 million to $14.2 million. Work is expected to start in 1997.

Drivers tired of idling their minutes away at the congested Victoria Avenue-Ventura Freeway interchange praised proposed changes to the intersection at a workshop Wednesday evening.

“It’s badly needed,” said Jim Salzer, whose nearby video and record stores may be affected by plans to increase the size of the intersection.

John Knipe, a consultant who is working for the city of Ventura on the project’s design, said the work is expected to cost $13 million or $14.2 million, depending on which of two alternatives is chosen. About $4.5 million in federal funds are available for the work, and the city has allocated $2.5 million, Knipe said.

The intersection has long been known as one of the city’s worst, causing delays and accidents.

Construction is set to begin in April, 1997, on the project, which would move Valentine Road away from the freeway onto the site of an old gas station and widen the road from three lanes to eight where it meets Victoria Avenue.

The plan also calls for widening Victoria under the freeway from six to nine lanes, and adding an on-ramp to the southbound Ventura Freeway.

The new ramp would allow cars coming south on Victoria to turn right onto the southbound freeway without stopping at a traffic light. Presently, cars must make a left turn across traffic.

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The new on-ramp, along with a new off-ramp, will meet Valentine Road before Victoria Avenue.

City Traffic Engineer Nazir Lalani said that so far, there has been no opposition to the project. “Generally, the feeling is, ‘How soon can you build it?’ ” he said.

Salzer owns most of the property at the congested intersection, including the old gas station, which he uses for customer parking at the record store. The store opened in 1971, about nine years after the freeway was completed.

Salzer said he plans a “non-confrontational” approach in selling the parcel to the city.

Knipe said the new interchange is designed to accommodate traffic volumes projected for the year 2015.

The second phase of the project will focus on the other side of the freeway. Plans call for removing a traffic signal on Victoria and building a $2-million, 20-foot-high retaining wall between the freeway and Ventura Boulevard. The intersection of Ventura Boulevard and Victoria Avenue will also be realigned to make it easier for trucks to turn onto Victoria, Knipe said.

Wednesday’s workshop was the first glimpse that many residents had of the proposed changes.

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“The Victoria-Ventura interchange is abominable without this improvement,” said Linda Borneman, who uses the intersection daily while commuting to work on Valentine. “I’ve been complaining for 15 years.”

Borneman said the plans seemed sensible.

But while the new project will improve traffic flow for cars, at least one cyclist said bicycle commuters will still be out of luck.

Pat Larson of the Oxnard-Ventura Bicycle Club said the plans would force bikers to dismount and walk several times. “As a commuting route, it’s very unreasonable,” he said.

Another resident said the traffic is not bad enough to justify the expensive renovation. “I think they ought to save their money. I think they should leave it alone,” said Cliff Blackburn of Ventura.